Living the Life of Faith in the Last Days

A key aspect of providential history is acknowledging that God can literally “see ahead” (Latin, provideō) the events that will transpire in the lives of his children and in the wider sweep of history. This foreknowledge builds faith in those of us who accept it, because we can trust that God is true to his promises and that, in the end, Jesus Christ will be victorious over Satan and the world, bringing us into his Father’s kingdom to inherit eternal life. As Nephi testified, this allows us to “press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if [we] shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: [we] shall have eternal life” (2 Nephi 31:20, emphasis added). Steadfastness in Christ, as described here, includes the kind of faith that allows us to endure tribulations in this life and empowers us to press forward even if the final victory lies beyond our own mortal experience. The necessity of enduring to the end, however, has repeatedly raised the question of when and how the Lord will accomplish his foreseen purpose and what the implications are for believers, especially for the countless who do not experience the final “end” in mortality.

Eschatology—a term which comes from the Greek adjective eschatos for “last” or “final”[1]—is the branch of biblical studies concerned with “the end,” particularly the last days and the accomplishing of God’s purposes. Eschatology, however, does not only deal with the end of the world. In the Old Testament, the expression “in the last days” (Hebrew, bǝ`aharît hayyāmîm) often simply referred to a later time when various prophecies would be fulfilled,[2] although Latter-day Saint interpretation frequently sees particular references to our current, latter-day dispensation when this phrase is used. For instance, a Restoration reading of Isaiah’s prophesy, “And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it” (Isaiah 2:2; cf. Micah 4:1),” commonly sees its fulfillment in the building of latter-day temples. Exegetical readings, on the other hand, can allow for multiple readings, beginning with an effort to understand the meaning that a passage would have had to its original audience.[3] From this perspective eschatology, which can refer to the last in a series and not just to the absolute end, and references to the “last days” in the Hebrew Bible can refer to God’s accomplishing his purposes in any age and not just the “wrapping up scenes” of the final dispensation.

Accordingly, eschatological expectations in the Hebrew Bible about “the day of the Lord,” sometimes expanded into “the great and terrible day of the Lord” (Hebrew, yôm YHWH haggāḏôl wǝhannôrā`), dealt with whenever YHWH, or Jehovah, personally intervened in history to punish the wicked, save the righteous, and fulfill his covenant promises.[4] According to David L. Petersen, Franklin Nutting Parker Professor of Old Testament at Emory University, eschatology “refers to time in the future when the course of history will be changed to such an extent that one can speak of an entirely new state of reality.”[5] Such eschatology could be prophetic, apocalyptic, or both. Prophetic eschatology focuses more on the individual’s response to God, showing the repentance and covenant faithfulness were necessary both to create this new, better reality and to guarantee that the individual was part of saved, covenant group. Apocalyptic eschatology sees the transformation to a new age as the result of God’s direct intervention, whereby he overturns the existing order and creates a new, heavenly one.[6]

In the New Testament, eschatology increasingly focused upon death, the afterlife, the resurrection, and judgment, particularly in how Jesus Christ was instrumental in bringing these about. Additionally, the Old Testament image of the day of the Lord became more clearly focused upon the return of Jesus in glory to bring about God’s heavenly reign.[7] Consideration of these future events is part of what scholars generally term final eschatology, providing believers with greater motivation to live as he taught and comforting them in the face of present tribulations. However, the intervention of Jesus Christ into the middle of history—what Latter-day Saints would call “the meridian of time”—resulted also in what is called realized eschatology.[8] According to realized eschatology, the effects of Jesus’ salvific suffering and death are available to believers here and now. Accepting his atonement brings about a new spiritual birth and his resurrection makes the future conquest of our own deaths certain, providing us a new quality of life in the interim.

While tensions between final and realized eschatology can be seen throughout the New Testament, examining critical passages more-or-less in order of their composition reveals how Paul, the evangelists who wrote the Gospels, and the books attributed to John used both types of eschatology to build faith. Because Book of Mormon prophets had an understanding of and faith in Jesus Christ even before his coming, their teaching reflects similar elements of both final and realized eschatology (see, for example, Jacob 4:4, 11; Enos 1:8; Helaman 8:18). Thus in both the New Testament and the Book of Mormon, trust in God’s promises not only gave believers faith to endure but also allowed them to lay hold of many of the blessings of salvation while still in this life, yet awaiting the final, glorious end. Both types of eschatology are necessary for us as we strive to live a life of faith in these last days.

Pauline Eschatology

Because the letters of Paul are some of the earliest documents of the New Testament— having been written before the Gospels, Revelation, and most, if not all, of the General Epistles—they reflect some of the earliest Christian eschatological expectations. The earliest Pauline letters seem to suggest that Paul may have initially expected an imminent return of Jesus. The earliest of these may have been 1 Thessalonians, written in a.d. 50 or 51.[9] This letter is particularly concerned with the return of Jesus, and Paul’s early missionary message seems to have presented accepting him as a way of avoiding the destructions that would accompany his return. Paul commended the Thessalonians who had accepted the gospel, recounting how they had “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come” (1 Thessalonians 1:9–10, emphasis added; see also 2:16; 5:9). While Paul seems to have encouraged the Thessalonian saints to look forward to the return of Jesus, who would take them to reign with him in heaven, his short stay in Thessalonica had apparently not given him the chance to teach all the plan of salvation, particularly about the state of the soul between death and the resurrection as we know it from the Book of Mormon (see, in particular, Alma 40:11–14). As a result, the Thessalian saints began to worry about those of their number who had died before that great day, fearing that their departed loved ones might miss the chance to rise with the Lord.[10]

This led to Paul’s reassuring them with his fullest description of Jesus’ future return and its significance for all believers, living and dead:

But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent [Greek, pthasōmen, meaning “precede”] them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:13–17, emphasis added; cf. D&C 88:95–98)

In Greek, the word for “coming” in the phrase “the coming of the Lord” is parousia. While this term literally means “presence,” the language of diplomacy and government regularly used it to refer to the official advent or state visit of a Hellenistic king or the Roman emperor. Accordingly, in letters from the early and middle periods of his ministry, Paul regularly used parousia to portray the return of the Lord as the ultimate heavenly king, whose return would be far more glorious than the visit of any earthly sovereign.[11] Besides clarifying that Jesus’ eschatological return would be for the salvation and glory of all saints, living and dead, Paul reminded the Thessalonians that they did not know the exact timing of the Lord’s return: “For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.” (1 Thessalonians 5:2; cf. Matthew 24:43). Because the day was not known, Paul enjoined, “let us watch and be sober” (1 Thessalonians 5:6), ending his letter with a list of ethical exhortations. In other words, saints, then and today, should live each day as if it were their last, preparing to meet the Lord at any time. Such admonitions fall under the rubric of prophetic eschatology, enjoining repentance and obedience so that believers will be numbered among Christ’s own when he returns.

The final eschatology of the Parousia served as more than a motivator of ethical behavior, however. In a second letter to Thessalians, Paul noted that they were enduring persecution and tribulations with patience and faith precisely because they were looking forward to when “the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God” and “he shall come to be glorified in his saints” (2 Thessalonians 1:7–8, 10).[12] Because of God’s foreknowledge and his control of history, Christians could trust that, in the end, he would vindicate them.

Still, between the two letters, Paul seems to have gained more insight that began to lead him to understand that more needed to happen before the hoped-for end, particularly “a falling away” that must come first (see 2 Thessalonians 2:1–12).[13] Indeed, noted evangelical scholar Ben Witherington, Professor of New Testament Interpretation at Asbury Theological Seminary, has stressed that what Paul consistently taught was the certainty of Jesus’ return and the only the possibility that it might come soon.[14] The possibility underscored the importance of preparation and faithfulness, while the certainty provided comfort that Christians would eventually be on the winning side of the great cosmological battle between good and evil, even if they suffered in this life. This need to stress the certainty of this vindication, even if it was much delayed, may help account for the shift to greater apocalyptic imagery in Paul’s descriptions of the Parousia, describing the Christ’s return in flaming vengeance in terms reminiscent of the Hebrew Bible’s Day of the Lord.

Because of their focus on other, weighty doctrinal matters such as discussions of the law, justification, and the new life in Christ, final eschatology is not as prevalent as theme in Galatians, the Corinthian correspondence, and Romans,[15] which were written between a.d. 56–58 at the height of Paul’s ministry.[16] Nevertheless, the Old Testament image of the yôm YHWH is still present, where it is presented as “the day of the Lord Jesus” (see esp. 1 Corinthians 5:5; 2 Corinthians 2:14). Paul also frequently speaks of saints persisting in faithfulness until “the end.” For instance, he begins his first extant letter to the Corinthians[17] by writing,

I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ; That in every thing ye are enriched by him . . . waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 1:4–8, emphases added).

Paul also spoke of the eschatological end when he wrote of the inauguration of God’s kingdom on the earth after the resurrection: “Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.” (1 Corinthians 15:24, emphasis added). Not surprisingly, all the letters from the middle of Paul’s ministry contain substantial hortatory material, as Paul lays out an “interim ethic” of how Christians should live and worship as they wait, and prepare, for the Parousia (see Galatians 5:1–6:10; 1 Corinthians 5:1–14:40; 2 Corinthians 8:1–9:15; 12:19–13:10; Romans 12:1–15:13).[18]

In the middle of the ethical section of Romans, Paul warns, “knowing the time . . . it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed” (Romans 13:11), which has led some commentators to assert that Paul was still expecting an imminent Parousia as late as a.d. 57 or 58 when this letter was written. However, Paul’s discussion of the future of Israel and the need to preach the gospel to all the earth presupposes that he understood that there would yet be a period, however short or long, before Jesus’ return.[19] This has led many Pauline scholars to characterize Paul’s eschatology as “already, but not yet.”[20] In other words, the conquest of sin and death had started with Jesus’ salvific suffering, death, and resurrection, but the final triumph would not happen until his triumphal return, the defeat of Satan, the inauguration of God’s kingdom on the earth, and the final resurrection.

Instead, Paul’s increasing use of the concept of believers being “in Christ” now, in this life, point to a growing use of realized eschatology in his teaching.[21] While we yet live in a fallen world with mortal bodies, we have nonetheless “put on Christ” and live “in Christ” (e.g., Galatians 3:27). Indeed, the expression “in Christ” appears 83 times in the letters attributed to Paul, representing a completely new type of life that occurs upon conversion.[22] For instance, in Galatians Paul wrote, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). Although Paul does not explicitly use terminology such as being “born again” or “born of God” as do the writings of John and the Book of Mormon,[23] he powerfully uses the image of a new birth his discussion of the symbolism of baptism: “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection” (Romans 6:4–5).

As James Dunn, Lightfoot Professor Emeritus of Divinity at the University of Durham, has put it, “Paul’s gospel was eschatological not because of what he still hoped would happen, but because of what he believed had already happened.”[24] This “already but not yet” time in Christ between his resurrection and the Parousia thus represented a constructive tension between realized and final eschatology, a time when Christian enjoyed new life in Christ yet continued to labor and groan under the power of mortality and the possibility of sin that Paul describes to poignantly in Romans 7:5–25. Paul’s struggle here echoes that of Nephi in 2 Nephi 4:17–35, with both underscoring the continuing need to put off the natural man to become, and remain, a saint through the atonement of Christ (see Mosiah 3:19). As a result, Paul proclaimed, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18 NRSV).[25] The fact that the act of salvation is an ongoing process may help explain Paul’s earlier warning to the Philippians that they “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12). The dynamic tension in Paul’s teaching between the radical new life that came in Christ with the necessity of watchfulness, repentance, and continued faith finds a parallel in the story of the people of King Benjamin in the Book of Mormon. While they spoke of a mighty change of heart that left them with no more disposition to do evil on the one hand (Mosiah 5:2–7), King Benjamin nonetheless provided them guidance on how they should live to retain a remission of sins “from day to day” (Mosiah 4:12–30) that was very similar to the interim ethics that Paul often enjoined in his letters.[26] As the final end became less and less imminent to Paul and other early Christians, enduring was not just a matter of suffering tribulations but also of continuing in faithfulness.

Realized eschatology becomes more prominent in the later letters attributed to Paul.[27] The letter to the Colossians, for instance, emphasizes how those baptized have been raised with Christ (see Colossians 2:12; 3:1).[28] Further, the emphasis on Christians being in Christ in this life may help account for a shift in the Pastoral Epistles from describing Jesus’ return less as a Parousia, or grand advent, than as an epiphaneia—literally an “appearing” but perhaps in the sense of a visible, public unveiling of the Christ already present (see 1 Timothy 6:14; 2 Timothy, 1:10; 4:1, 8; Titus 2:13).[29] Further, these letters, together with Ephesians, have extensive ethical sections that mandate how Christians should live faithfully in this world rather than stressing primarily what they should do to prepare for Jesus’ glorious return (see Ephesians 4:1–6:20; Colossians 3:1–4:6; 1 Timothy 5:3–6:19; 2 Timothy 2; 1–3:17; Titus 2:1–3:11). As Paul is quoted as having said before his death, “Therefore I endure all things for the elect’s sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory” (2 Timothy 2:10).

The Return of the Son of Man in the Synoptic Gospels

While Paul wrote much about the doctrine of Jesus’ saving work, the New Testament Gospels endeavored to preserve narrative accounts of the actual teachings and deeds of Jesus. However, because they were written thirty to sixty years after his death and resurrection, addressed different audiences, and each had particular aims, the accounts in the Gospels present different portraits of Jesus.[30] Even the Synoptic Gospels, which largely follow the same story line and provide a similar perspective of Jesus’ ministry, differ somewhat in how they portray Jesus. These differences include varying expectations about his glorious return and how his prophecies about the end of the world should both comfort and encourage his followers. One general pattern is that Mark, widely agreed to have been the earliest of the Synoptics to have been written, tends to focus more on final, or future, eschatology. Matthew and especially Luke, however, contain an increasing amount of realized eschatology, encouraging their readers in their present condition as much as pointing them forward to Jesus’ later second coming.

Most of Jesus’ own descriptions of the end include references to himself as “the Son of Man.” In the Gospels, this title appears eighty-one times, always in the mouth of Jesus.[31] References in Restoration scripture—notably Moses 6:57; see also D&C 78:20; 95:17—have predisposed Latter-day Saint readers to understand this as a title signaling Jesus’ divinity: because “Man of Holiness” is a title for God the Father, then “Son of Man” is, in fact, a way of describing Jesus as the divine Son of God. This may certainly be the case in instances that seem to stress Jesus’ divine authority, but other occurrences of the title seem to accord with the usage found in the Hebrew Bible. Most often in the Old Testament, “son of man” is simply a way of describing that someone is a mortal,[32] and that may be the meaning implied, for instance, in Passion predictions, when Jesus prophesies the necessity of his coming suffering and death.[33] In a least thirty instances, however, the model seems to be the usage of Daniel, who saw in vision “one like the Son of man” who “came with the clouds of heaven” at the end of the world (see Daniel 7:13). This eschatological figure seems to have been the model for Jesus whenever he spoke of himself returning in glory.

In the Gospel of Mark, which was written in the mid a.d. 60’s and may have preserved much of the testimony of Peter about Jesus,[34] the first eschatological use of the title “Son of Man” occurs immediately after the first Passion prediction, when Jesus says to his disciples, “Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels” (Mark 8:38). In addition to the image from Daniel of a glorious, powerful figure coming with angels from heaven, Jesus’ prophecy also introduced the concept of judgment, another important eschatological theme. Both of these features figure even more prominently in the Olivet Discourse, a vivid prophecy that Jesus delivered to Peter, James, John and Andrew on the Mount of Olives early in the last week of his life (Mark 13:1–37). In it, Jesus described not only the destruction of the temple and the sack of Jerusalem, which happened in a.d. 70 when the Romans captured the city at the end of the Jewish Revolt, but also prophesies of persecutions and destructions that would mount before his Second Coming. These prophecies constituted prophetic eschatology inasmuch as they called upon believers to “endure unto the end” (Mark 13:13) and to prepare, watch, and pray (13:28–37). However, they were also apocalyptic, including powerful imagery of the sun and moon being darkened, stars falling from the sky, and the heavens themselves being shaken (13:24–25). The climax of Mark’s “Little Apocalypse,” as it is sometimes called, is, of course, the glorious appearance of Jesus, who returns to rescue and gather his saints: “And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven” (Mark 13:26–27).

Because Mark recorded Jesus’ prophecy before the destruction of Jerusalem had occurred, both the sack of the city and the eventual end of the world were still in the future for the evangelist and his original audience. Perhaps for this reason, when Jesus preached about the kingdom of God, saying “it was at hand” (Greek, ēngiken), this expression could have been understood to mean “was drawing nigh.”[35] As a result, Mark and his audience may have had the same sense of imminence of the kingdom that Paul felt about the Parousia in his early letters. When Matthew’s Gospel was written sometime in the mid to late a.d. 70’s, however, Jerusalem had already fallen. Hence, it was apparent to both author and his audience that the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the world were two different events. Thus in Matthew’s version of the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 23:1–25:46), a clearer distinction is made between the destruction of Jerusalem, which had recently occurred, and the eventual destruction of the wicked at the end of the world, a distinction the Joseph Smith’s New Translation made even more clear (see Joseph Smith—Matthew 1:4). In addition to more attention to judgment and apocalyptic images of destruction, the Matthean Olivet Discourse is also more prophetic, calling upon Jesus’ followers to prepare themselves for his return. He does this by adding parables that call upon believers to prepare for Jesus’ return, such as the Parable of the Faithful and Unfaithful Servant (24:45–51), the Parable of the Tens Bridesmaids (25:1–13), the Parable of the Talents (25:14–30), and the Parable of the King’s Division of the Sheep and the Goats (25:31–46).

Nevertheless, because Jerusalem had already been destroyed and the end delayed to some uncertain, future time, the question remained how the kingdom could be imminent. The answer for Matthew seems to have been that Jesus had already brought the kingdom of heaven in a spiritual sense.[36] This amounted to a new element of realized eschatology in this Gospel, whereby Jesus has already begun to overthrow the kingdom of Satan and was already reigning in the hearts of his saints.[37] Still, frequent references in Matthew to judgment—both the destruction of the wicked and the of the righteous—provide further examples of final eschatology,[38] with believers being promised that “he that endureth to the end shall be saved” (Matthew 10:22, emphasis added). Not surprisingly, in several of these references to future eschatological judgement, Matthew preserves descriptions to Jesus as the returning Son of Man (e.g., Matthew 10:23; 13:41; 19:28).

Because the Gospel of Luke was written still later than Matthew, perhaps in the late a.d. 70’s or sometime in the 80’s, its eschatology is even less imminent and contains more elements of realized eschatology. By the time he was writing his Gospel and its companion volume the book of Acts, it was clear that Jesus was not returning soon. On the one hand, when the disciples asked Jesus prior to his ascension, “Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” Jesus replied, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power” (Acts 1:6–7). On the other hand, after Jesus had departed, angels assured them that “this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” Thus, like Paul, Luke was certain that Jesus would return without claiming to know when the Parousia would occur. Instead, Christians had the responsibility of bearing witness of Jesus throughout the world and receiving the Holy Ghost so that the church could be a spiritual kingdom on the earth in the interim. Thus, the kingdom could be both “already” and “not yet.”

The result in the Gospel of Luke was a final eschatology that was delayed to an indefinite future[39]even as Jesus’ ministry reflected a more realized eschatology in the form of his healing and saving people at the moment.[40] Even while some Son of Man passages still maintained an apocalyptic tenor, at other times Luke explicitly retreated from eschatological imagery, as when he rejected the request of James and John ask to call down fire on a Samaritan village, saying, “For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them” (9:56). Luke also shortened his version of the Olivet Discourse (Luke 21:5–38), redistributing some of its material into an earlier discourse on the coming of the kingdom (Luke 17:20–37) and undercutting elements of its final eschatology. For instance, in his shortened Olivet Discourse, Luke has Jesus say, “But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by” (Luke 21:9, emphasis added). Further, Luke’s earlier eschatological discourse contains perhaps the most explicit example of realized eschatology in the Synoptics. When asked by some Pharisees when the kingdom of God will come, Jesus replies, “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20–21, emphasis added). Then to his disciples he explained, “The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it” (Luke 17:22). Because most believers will, in fact, live out their lives before the final end, they—and we—should be faithful and enjoy the blessings of salvation in this life.

Eschatology in the Johannine Corpus

Of the writings traditionally attributed to John,[41] Revelation, of course, stands as the paramount example of final eschatology. However, while both the Gospel of John and 1 John, contain elements of future eschatology, these two books also present the clearest and most striking examples of realized eschatology in the New Testament.[42] Because they so directly portray the results of life in Christ in our own lives, regardless of what age we live in, these books can serve as a control on our reading of Revelation,[43] which is sometimes read only in terms of its future interpretation. In addition to encouraging a broader interpretation of Revelation that sees its application in every age, the perspective of John and 1 John also encourages a more balanced view of prophetic eschatology, which calls upon us to respond to Jesus, and apocalyptic eschatology, which places the course of history and the inauguration of the new age in the hands of God. God, in his providence, sees the end and his victory is assured, but he still calls upon us to choose a side in life’s battles, following his Son and being faithful to the end.

In regard to the future resurrection and judgment, the Gospel of John evidences rather typical future eschatology. For instance, in his Discourse on the Divine Son (John 5:17–47), Jesus describes the coming resurrection by saying, “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation” (John 5:28–29). Nevertheless, of the twelve references in John to Jesus as “the Son of Man,” none of them are in the usual eschatological role,[44] and this Gospel exhibits surprisingly strong examples of realized eschatology. For instance, the description of future resurrection in the Discourse on the Divine Son is matched by striking realized eschatology: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life” (John 5:24, emphasis added). The present tense of “hath” (Greek, echei) indicates that those who accept Christ already have everlasting life in this life, and the perfect tense of “is passed” (Greek, metabebēken) specified as past action with a continuing result in the present. In other words, the salvific suffering and death of Jesus were efficacious for Jesus’ listeners even before he died upon the cross, even as Nephite prophets had taught that “whosoever should believe that Christ should come, the same might receive remission of their sins, and rejoice with exceedingly great joy, even as though he had already come among them” (Mosiah 3:13).

Seeing such realized eschatology is not a natural reflex for Latter-day Saints, however, since our common definition of eternal life equates it with exaltation in the celestial kingdom. In other words, for us eternal life is to live in the presence of God and Christ with the kind of immortal, glorified bodies that they have,[45] something that is clearly in the future. In John, however, eternal life is defined as knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent (John 17:3), something which can occur in this life when people accept Jesus Christ and enter into his fuller, spirit-filled life. In this view, eternal life is the opposite of spiritual death, which, since the Fall, is that separation from God that occurs first with our birth and is perpetuated because of subsequent sins (see Alma 42:9; D&C 29:41–44). The fact that all are spiritually dead before they come to Christ helps us better explain the full meaning of Jesus’ declaration to Martha that he was “the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25–26). Despite her brother’s death, Martha had accepted Jesus’ promise that Lazarus would rise again. Expressing faith in the future resurrection, a point of final eschatology, Martha testified, “I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day (John 11:24, emphasis added). No doubt anticipating his imminent raising of Lazarus from the grave, Jesus responded to Martha’s faith by declaring, “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live” (John 11:25). Nevertheless, because Latter-day Saints understand that the resurrection comes to all, not just those who believe in Jesus, his statement must be about more than just the resurrection, and his next declaration presents a further conundrum: “And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die (John 11:26; cf. 8:51). Lazarus had no doubt believed in Jesus, as have countless Christians since, and yet he had died. The solution seems to lie in in interpreting Jesus’ two statements in view of both realized eschatology. Spiritually dead until Christ comes into our lives, he calls us into new and abundant life, a spiritual life that continues even after physical death.[46]

The Johannine view of “life” being full life in Christ makes realized eschatology the dominant theme of both the Gospel of John and 1 John,[47] helping to explain their emphasis on new birth. As Jesus famously explained to Nicodemus, “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again” (John 3:5–7, emphasis added).[48] Because the phrase “be born again” (Greek, gennēthē_i anōthen) literally means “born from above,” it is similar to the expression “born of God” that the Book of Mormon often uses for “born again.”[49] In both cases, the emphasis is as much on the nature and the source of the new birth as it is upon repetition. The very essence of realized eschatology, the concept of being born of God is an even more prevalent in 1 John. This letter reflects clear future eschatology when it proclaims, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). Nevertheless, in succeeding passages, 1 John shifts to a more realized eschatology as it emphasizes how we become like him by being “born of God” (see 1 John 3:9; 4:7; 5:1, 4, 18). As in Jesus’ Discourse on the Divine Son in John, this letter claims that members of the community to which it was written “have passed from death unto life” (1 John 3:14) and already have eternal life (1 John 5:13).[50] This Johannine realized eschatology is primarily prophetic in that it requires a response from those who receive and enjoy spiritual life in Christ: in the first instance, they must come to and accept him, and then, if they love him, they must keep his commandments (see John 14:15, 21; 15:10; 1 John 2:3–4; 3:22, 24; 5:2–3).

While this emphasis on realized rather than final eschatology seems to separate the Gospel of John and 1 John from Revelation (Greek, Apokalypsis), the situation of the epistle provides a bridge with the New Testament’s final book. The community to which 1 John was written had suffered internal schism, resulting in a strong dualism of light and darkness, truth and falsehood that is characteristic of apocalyptic writing.[51] Those who had apostatized in 1 John are, in fact, described in terms that anticipate Satan, the beasts, and the whore of all the earth in Revelation: “Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time” (1 John 2:18, emphases added). These references to antichrists and “the last time” are both apocalyptic and eschatological, but because the repeated phrase “it is the last time” (Greek, eschatē hora estin) lacks the definite article in the original text, it could be translated literally as “a” last hour rather than “the” last hour. Thus, as with the Hebrew expression “in the last days,” the last time in 1 John refers to current crisis as much as it looks forward to the actual end of the world. Yet even if understood as “the last hour,” it is a crisis that had immediate implications to the original audience.[52] In other words, just as life in Christ can be experienced fully in any age, so can spiritual death and the danger posed by forces of evil threaten us now.

The emphasis on current experience in both the Gospel of John and 1 John thus encourage readings of Revelation that emphasize realized as well as final eschatology. Of course, the subject matter, and indeed the very genre, of Revelation encourage futurist interpretations. While the letters of Paul, the Synoptic Gospels, and the Johannine writings all contain apocalyptic elements, Revelation is the only example of a literary apocalypse in the New Testament, although Daniel 7–12 and select passages of Ezekiel and Zechariah represent the genre in the Old Testament.[53] By definition, an apocalypse is meant to “uncover” or unveil (Greek, apokalyptō) God’s will and plan for the earth and his people. Yet because God himself is beyond our limited comprehension, an apocalyptic experience is highly symbolic. John J. Collins, Holmes Professor of Old Testament Criticism and Interpretation at the Yale Divinity School, has defined an apocalypse as “a genre of revelatory literature with a narrative framework, in which a revelation is mediated by an other-worldly being to a human recipient . . . intended to interpret the present, earthly circumstances in light of the supernatural world and of the future, and to influence both the understanding and the behavior of the audience by means of divine authority.”[54] While apocalyptic literature is clearly concerned with the future, its ability to help readers understand their current experience and influence their behavior is sometimes underestimated. An apocalypse was intended to encourage and comfort believers in times of trial, assuring them of God’s ultimate victory, but it was also prophetic in that it called upon them to prepare and live lives of faith in the moment, even if their lives were cut short (see Revelation 6:9–11).

Indeed, a preoccupation with a future fulfillment of specific prophecies at the end of the world often results in divorcing Revelation from the meaning it would have had to its original audience and from contemporary application to readers, including us, since. While many conservative interpreters, including many evangelicals and some Latter-day Saints, have fallen into a futurist school of interpretation, at least three other schools of interpretation have endeavored to explain the symbolism of Revelation. Preterists see most of the prophecies as already having been fulfilled at the time Revelation was written—they were, this group claims, primarily symbolic representations of the Roman siege and destruction of Jerusalem in a.d. 70, which gives Revelation relevance for its original audience but not much for us. Historicists see the fulfillment in the history of Christianity, with the prophecies representing events such as the fall of the Roman Empire the tumult surrounding the Reformation, giving it little relevance to previous ages but not to either its original audience or necessarily to us. Idealists often see the various plagues and destructions described in Revelation as representing the calamities that have afflicted and will continue to afflict mankind throughout history, with battles symbolizing the ongoing conflict between good and evil. The fact that the interpretation work to some degree attests the polyvalent richness of prophecy: God knows what will happen throughout history, and the revelation that he gives his prophets can have meaning to people in every age.[55]

Restoration scripture provides validation for an eclectic approach to Revelation that combines elements of each of these schools. In response to questions that he had while working on the New Translation of the Bible (JST), Joseph Smith received inspiration that included an interpretation to the visions of the seven seals found in Revelation 5:1–11:19. According to D&C 77:6-7, each seal represented a dispensation, or period, of the world’s history, and it implied a preterist interpretation for the first four seals, a historicist interpretation for the fifth and some of the sixth, and a clearly futurist interpretation for the rest of the sixth and the seventh seal. Yet the idealists, or more symbolic, interpretation arguably still applies: though the primary interpretation for each seal might be for a specific period of time, the trials that afflict each dispensation in fact confront believers in every age. This continues to be the case for the series of visions recorded in Revelation 12:1–22:5. While more clearly prophecies of the end of the world, a reader in any age can identify with the situations described and be motivated to place his or her faith in Christ and endure to the end.

Latter-day Saints and the Last Days

Despite the persistence of realized eschatology in the Johannine corpus and the Restoration precedent for an eclectic approach to the book of Revelation, an apocalyptic reading of most “last days” prophecies that stresses future eschatology still remains an important, perhaps the most important, interpretive approach for us in this dispensation. Indeed, from the outset of the Restoration, our current age has been seen as both the “Dispensation of the Fulness of Times,” in which all previous dispensations are finding their fulfillment, and “the last dispensation” (e.g., D&C 27:7–13; 112:30–31; 115:4; 128:18).[56] According to Larry E. Dahl, emeritus professor of Church History and Doctrine at Brigham Young University, some events are common to both the meridian of time and the latter-days such as false Christs and false prophets, iniquity abounding, and “the abomination of desolation.” Many other prophesied events, however, are specific to the final last days that anticipate the return of the Lord. These include the gathering of the elect, the gospel being taken to all the world, eschatological phenomena in the heavens, and appearances of the Son of Man.[57] Such prophecies both motivate us to faithfulness and give us a sense of purpose as we not only prepare for that last day but also encourage us to be part of preparing others for it.

Indeed, the Restoration occurred precisely because we were entering the final days: “Wherefore, I the Lord, knowing the calamity which should come upon the inhabitants of the earth, called upon my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., and spake unto him from heaven” (D&C 1:17). This dispensation was to be different than all previous ones because it was the last one that would end the cycle, with the world finally be cleansed with fire, ushering in the time when “Christ will reign personally upon the earth,” which “will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory” (Article of Faith 10).

As a result, even though many of these prophecies can have multiple interpretations and may foresee realization in several different ages, their fulfillment in these the last days—not only from our vantage point but also in terms of the Lord’s ultimate plan—is often the most important reading. For instance, Joel, who may have prophesied anywhere between the ninth and fourth centuries b.c., famously prophesied of a time of restoration when the Lord promised,

And it shall come to pass afterward,

that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh;

and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,

your old men shall dream dreams,

your young men shall see visions:

And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days

will I pour out my spirit. (Joel 2:28–29)

The broader context of this prophecy, which is preceded by images of agricultural renewal and prosperity and followed by eschatological visions of destruction in the heavens, suggests that even in its first delivery its fulfillment was envisioned at the end of the world. Still, in a sermon immediately following the miracle of Pentecost, the apostle Peter saw it being fulfilled in the meridian of time (Acts 2:16–18). Nevertheless, even its “last days” application can have more than one fulfillment. Moroni quoted this very prophecy to the young Joseph Smith, declaring that “this was not yet fulfilled, but was soon to be” (Joseph Smith–History 1:41). Gordon B. Hinckley (1910–2008), fifteenth president of the Church, saw this prophecy as having been realized in the wonderful visions and revelations of the early days of the Restoration.[58] Yet arguably its ultimate, final realization will occur just prior that apocalyptic moment when God “will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come” (Joel 2:30–31).

When Moroni quoted Joel’s prophecy to Joseph Smith, he declared that “the fulness of the Gentiles was soon to come in” (Joseph Smith–History 1:41). Dahl understood this expression, and the similar phrase “the times of the Gentiles,” to refer specifically to “a particular period of time in the earth’s history—the time between the restoration of the gospel and the second coming of the Lord.”[59] Thus, for Latter-day Saints, “the last days” are broadly the entire dispensation in which we live, and, more specifically, the final events of the winding up scenes that we are approaching as we near the second coming of Jesus Christ.

Joseph Smith’s revision of key biblical passages and many of the revelations that he received that now appear in the Doctrine and Covenants articulate this particular reading. For instance, Joseph Smith–Matthew, the inspired revision of the Matthean version of the Olivet Discourse, and D&C 45:15–59 clearly distinguish between those prophecies of Jesus that anticipated the destruction of Jerusalem in a.d. 70 in the generation of the original apostles and those that referred to “the sign of [his] coming and of the end of the world, or the destruction of the wicked, which is the end of the world.” According to Dahl, some events are common to both the meridian of time and the latter-days such as false Christs and false prophets, iniquity abounding, and “the abomination of desolation.” Many other prophesied events, however, are specific to the final last days that anticipate the return of the Lord. These include the gathering of the elect, the gospel being taken to all the world, eschatological phenomena in the heavens, and appearances of the Son of Man.[60] Such prophecies both motivate us to faithfulness and give us a sense of purpose as we not only prepare for that last day but also encourage us to be part of preparing others for it. Yet because these biblical prophecies—and even Nephi’s powerful vision of the Church of the Lamb in the last days—lack details about the period in which we live, as latter-day saints, we are encouraged to seek constantly seek the spirit (see (2 Nephi 32:5) for continuing, individual revelation on how to negotiate the challenges of the last days and maintain our faith.

Enduring to the End and Living the Life of Faith in Every Age

As a result, living in these last days naturally inclines us to interpreting other eschatological passages, such as the entire book of Revelation, in a future sense. While this indeed provides us the motivation and faith we need to live the life of faith in these latter-days, realized eschatology is still useful for us, especially given the difference between living in the last dispensation right now and yet not being, as far as we can tell, in the final last days. A preoccupation with only the final interpretation of John’s prophecies often leads to the common mistake of referring to the book of Revelation as “Revelations,” which arises no doubt from the assumption that it is primarily, and only, a collection of revelations about the end of the world. John’s powerful vision of the glorified Risen Lord that begins the book, however, provides another possible meaning (Revelation 1:9–20). Rather than just being the revelation (Greek, apokalypsis) of God’s provident will, it can also be seen as “the unveiling” of Jesus Christ, revealing both his full glory and his role in history.[61] As the Lamb who was slain, he is the one who opens each of the seven seals, setting into motion the events of history. Just as the “Apocalypse of Nephi” (1 Nephi 11–14) revealed Jesus as the Tree of Life and the moving force in Nephite and Restoration history,[62] so is he is central in all scripture and the focus of God’s activity in history, both now and in the future.

When the letters of Paul, the teachings of Jesus as presented in the Synoptic Gospels, and the writings of John and others in the New Testament are understood in this light, we realize that eschatology is often both realized and future. Although we are living in “the last days,” this very hour is nonetheless “the last time” for us. Knowing this, we can better live a life of faith, enduring present and future trials and pressing forward in obedience. Stephen E. Robinson (1948–2018), emeritus professor of ancient scripture at BYU and former chair of that department, has emphasized how often the scriptural injunction to “endure to the end” actually means “to the end of our probation,” not to the end of the world.[63] Similarly, as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 2004, Dallin H. Oaks asked, “What if the day of His coming were tomorrow? If we knew that we would meet the Lord tomorrow—through our premature death or through His unexpected coming—what would we do today?”[64] Millennia ago Nephi gave the answer: “Wherefore, if ye shall be obedient to the commandments, and endure to the end, ye shall be saved at the last day” (1 Nephi 22:31).

Endnotes

[1] Jörg Baumgarten, “eschatos,” Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament, ed. Horst Balz and Gerhard Schneider, 4 vols. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1993), 2.60–64.

[2] For instance, shortly before his death, Jacob assembled his sons and gave them prophetic blessings: “And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days” (Genesis 49:1). Other examples of prophecies that refer to later or multiple fulfillment but not always to just what we would call “the latter days” include Number 14:14; Deuteronomy 4:30; 31:29; Jeremiah 23:30; 30:24; 48:47; 49:39; Ezekiel 38:8, 16; Daniel 2:28; 10:14; Hosea 3:5.

[3] Eric D. Huntsman, “Teaching through Exegesis: Helping Students Ask Questions of the Text,” Religious Educator 6.1 (2005): 107–126.

[4] See Isaiah 13:6, 9; Jeremiah 46:10; Ezekiel 13:5; 30:3; Joel 1:15; 2:1, 11, 31; Amos 5:18, 20; Obadiah 1:15; Zephaniah 1:7, 14:2; Zechariah 14:1; Malachi 4:5.

[5] David L. Petersen, “Eschatology,” Anchor Bible Dictionary, ed. David Noel Freedman, 6 volumes (New York: Doubleday, 1993), 2.575–76.

[6] Paul D. Hanson, “Apocalypses and Apocalypticism,” Anchor Bible Dictionary, 1.280–81. I am indebted here to the insights of Jared M. Halverson, “The Things Which My Father Saw: Approaches to Lehi’s Dream and Nephi’s Vision, in The Things Which My Father Saw Approaches to Lehi’s Dream and Nephi’s Vision, eds. Daniel L. Belnap, Gaye Strathearn and Stanley A. Johnson (Provo: Religious Studies Center, 2011), 59–61, who after articulating this rubric of prophetic and apocalyptic eschatology then applies it convincingly to Lehi’s dream and Nephi’s vision (1 Nephi 8 and 11–14 respectively).

[7] D.E. Aune, “Eschatology, Early Christian,” Anchor Bible Dictionary 2:594.

[8] Aune, “Eschatology, Early Christian,” 1.599–600.

[9] While some argue for a dating of Galatians as early A.D. 48 or 49, it was most likely written in the mid a.d. 50’s. For the background and possible dating of 1–2 Thessalonians and Galatians, see Raymond E. Brown, Introduction to the New Testament (New York: Doubleday, 1997), 456–59, 468–70, 590–96.

[10] J. Stuart Russell, The Parousia: The New Testament Doctrine of Our Lord’s Second Coming (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1999), 158–70; Andrew Perriman, The Coming of the Son of Man: New Testament Eschatology for an Emerging Church (Eugene, Oregon: WIPF & Stock, 2005), 118.

[11] 1 Corinthians 15:23; 2 Corinthians 7:6–7; Philippians 1:26; 1 Thessalonians 2:19; 3:13; 4:15; 5:23; and 2 Thessalonians 2:1, 8–9 use forms of parousia for “the coming of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 16:17; 2: Corinthians 10:10; and Philippians 2:12 refer to mortal arrivals). See Walter Radl, “parousia,” Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament, 3.43–44.

[12] Perriman, Coming of the Son of Man, 157–160.

[13] The idea that the understanding of an inspired apostle prophet could increase incrementally finds parallels in the Book of Mormon, where the younger Alma expressed uncertainty about the timing of the various resurrections and Mormon learned additional details about the state of the three Nephite disciples whom the Risen Lord had empowered to continue their earthly missions until he returned (see Alma 40:19–21 and 3 Nephi 28:17–18, 36–38).

[14] Ben Witherington, Jesus, Paul, and the End of the World: A Comparative Study of New Testament Eschatology (Downer’s Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1992), 23–27.

[15] Witherington, Jesus, Paul, and the End of the World, 27.

[16] See Brown, Introduction to the New Testament, 511–15, 541–44, 559–64.

[17] Paul seems to have written at least 5 letters to the Corinthians. For clarity, Brown, Introduction to the New Testament, 514–515, 541–44, and 548–51, refers to the first letter (see 1 Corinthians 1 5:9), now lost, as Letter A. Our 1 Corinthians is Letter B, and another lost letter, “written with many tears” was Letter C. Our 2 Corinthians comprises two different letters, Letter D (2 Corinthians 1–9) and Letter E (2 Corinthians 10–13).

[18] Aune, “Eschatology, Early Christian,”2.603.

[19] Witherington, Jesus, Paul, and the End of the World, 31–32.

[20] See, for example, James D. G. Dunn, The Theology of Paul the Apostle (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998), 179–81, 461–661, and David G. Horrell, An Introduction to the Study of Paul, second edition (New York: T&T Clark, 2006), 69–70;

[21] Aune, “Eschatology, Early Christian,” 1.602.

[22] Dunn, The Theology of Paul the Apostle, 396–401.

[23] John 3:3, 7; 1 John 3:9; 4:7; 5:1, 4, 18; Mosiah 27:25, 28; Alma 5:14, 49; 7:14; 22:15; 36:5, 23–24, 26; 38:6.

[24] Dunn, The Theology of Paul the Apostle, 465.

[25] While the King James renders this verse “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God,” in both cases the italicized relative clauses represent present passive participles (tois men apollymenois and tois de sō_izomenois) that would be better translated in the present continuous tense.

[26] Dunn, The Theology of Paul the Apostle, 670–712.

[27] For a brief overview of the ongoing discussion of the so-called DeuteroPauline letters (that is, letters written not by Paul but by either a Pauline school or his students), see Brown, Introduction to the New Testament, 585–88.

[28] Brown, Introduction to the New Testament, 612–13.

[29] Paul-Gerd Müller, “epiphaneia,” Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament, 2:44–45.

[30] Roger R. Keller, “Mark and Luke: Two Facets of a Diamond,” in Sperry Symposium Classics: The New Testament (ed. Frank F. Judd Jr. and Gaye Strathearn; Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2006), 92–107; Richard Holzapfel, A Lively Hope (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1999), 1–8.

[31] See my appendix in Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God: The Person and Work of Jesus in the New Testament, The 47^th Annual Brigham Young University Sidney B. Sperry Symposium, eds. Eric D. Huntsman, Lincoln H. Blumell, and Tyler J. Griffin (Provo, Utah: Religious Studies Center), 416.

[32] See Psalm 8:4; Isaiah 51:12; and Ezekiel passim.

[33] See Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God, 407–408, for a complete tabulation of “Son of Man” usages in the New Testament.

[34] Eric D. Huntsman, “The Petrine Kērygma and the Gospel according to Mark.” in The Ministry of Peter, the Chief Apostle: The 43rd Annual Sidney B. Sperry Symposium, eds. Frank F. Judd Jr., Eric D. Huntsman, and Shon D. Hopkin (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2014) 169–190.

[35] Detlev Dortmeyer, “engizō,” Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament, 1.370–71. See Aune, “Eschatology, Early Christian,” 1.603, who notes that Mark references “the kingdom of God” fourteen times (Matthew 1:15; 4:11, 26, 30; 9:1, 47; 10:14, 15, 23, 24, 25; 12:34; 14:25; 15:43).

[36] Apparently preferred the pious circumlocution “kingdom of heaven” to avoid repetition of the name of God. Interestingly, this different terminology provided Joseph Smith with a means of differentiating between the already-present kingdom of God, the Church, and the future literal rule of God on the earth, which he termed the kingdom of Heaven.

[37] See Aune, “Eschatology, Early Christian,” 1.604; Donald A. Hagner, “Matthew’s Eschatology,” in To Tell the Mystery: Essays in New Testament Eschatology in Honor of Robert H. Gundry, eds. Thomas E. Schmidt and Moisés Silva (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1994), 50–54.

[38] Hagner, “Matthew’s Eschatology,” 54–58.

[39] Quoting Conzelmann, Aune, “Eschatology, Early Christian,” 1.605, notes “Luke was aware of the delay of the Parousia and rewrote and edited his sources to eliminate or suppress the earlier expectation of an imminent eschatological consummation in favor of a consummation located in the indefinite future.”

[40] Eric D. Huntsman, “Luke’s Jesus: The Compassionate and Saving Son of God,” Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God, 121–25.

[41] Questions of authorship and compositional history are beyond the scope of this study, but for the purposes of our discussion we will assume that the apostle John was the Beloved Disciple, the source if not the original author of the Gospel. See Eric D. Huntsman, “The Gospel according to John,” in New Testament History, Culture, and Society, ed. by Lincoln Blumell (American Fork, Utah: Covenant Book, 2018 forthcoming), x–y. Similarly, we will assume that he was the moving force behind the letters that bear his name. Although most Johannine scholarship questions whether the apostle was the author of Revelation, earlier I have argued that the rough Greek of Revelation, and its thematic connections with the Fourth Gospel might be the most securely attributed work of John. See Richard Neitzel Holzapfel, Eric D. Huntsman, and Thomas A. Wayment, Jesus Christ and the World of the New Testament (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2006), 280–81.

[42] Raymond E. Brown, The Gospel according to John, Anchor Bible 29 (New York: Doubleday, 1966), cxvi–cxix.

[43] While there are arguments an early date of Revelation late in the reign of Nero (c. a.d. 64–69), a likely date places it in the later phases of the reign of Domitian (c. a.d. 92–96), Because the Gospel of John and 1 John were also probably written in the a.d. 90’s, even if they came from a Johannine “school” rather than directly from the apostle, we can assume a high degree or mutual influence.

[44] See Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God, 408.

[45] Catherine Corman Parry, “Eternal Life,” Encyclopedia of Mormonism, ed. Daniel H. Ludlow, 4 vols. (New York: Macmillan, 1992), 2:464–65; Camille Fronk Olson, Robert L.Millet, Brent L. Top, and Andrew C. Skinner, “Eternal Life,” LDS Beliefs: A Doctrinal Reference (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2011), 190.

[46] See Eric D. Huntsman, The Miracles of Jesus (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2014), 115–19. See also my recent discussion of the entire Lazarus cycle in Becoming the Beloved Disciple: Coming unto Christ with the Gospel of John (American Fork, Utah: Covenant Book, forthcoming late 2018), x–y.

[47] Aune, “Eschatology, Early Christian,” 1.605–606.

[48] See also Huntsman, Becoming the Beloved Disciple, x–y.

[49] See Mosiah 27:25, 28; Alma 5:14, 49; 7:14; 22:15; 36:5, 23–24, 26; 38:6.

[50] D. A. Carson, “The Three Witnesses and the Eschatology of 1 John,” in To Tell the Mystery, 216–18.

[51] Raymond E. Brown, The Epistles of John, Anchor Bible 30 (New York: Doubleday, 1982), 49–55, 71.

[52] For the grammatical complications of this phrase and their implications for interpreting it, see Brown, The Epistles of John, 330–32, 363–67.

[53] Hanson, “Apocalypses and Apocalypticism,” Anchor Bible Dictionary, 1.279.

[54] John J. Collins, “Introduction: Towards the Morphology of a Genre,” Semeia 14 (1979): 9, emphases added.

[55] See G. K. Beale, The Book of Revelation: A Commentary on the Greek Text, The New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999), 44–49; Holzapfel, Huntsman, and Wayment, Jesus Christ and the World of the New Testament, 290–91. For interpretations of each prophecy in Revelation according to these four different approaches, see Revelation, Four Views: A Parallel Commentary, ed. Steve Gregg (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1997).

[56] Robert J. Matthews, “The Fulness of Times,” Ensign (December 1989): 46-51; Rand H. Packer, “Dispensation of the Fulness of Times,” Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 1:387–88.

[57] Larry H. Dahl, “The Second Coming of the Lord,” in Watch and Be Ready: Preparing for the Second Coming of the Lord (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1994), 134–65.

[58] Gordon B. Hinckley, “Living in the Fulness of Times,” Ensign (November 2001), 4.

[59] Dahl, “The Second Coming of the Lord,” 140–41.

[60] Dahl, “The Second Coming of the Lord,” 134–65.

[61] Holzapfel, Huntsman, and Wayment, Jesus Christ and the World of the New Testament, 282–85.

[62] Halverson, “The Things Which My Father Saw,” 55–56, 62–64, 66–67.

[63] Stephen E. Robinson, “Enduring to the End,” in Watch and Be Ready, 220–29.

[64] Dallin H. Oaks, “Preparation for the Second Coming,” Ensign (May 2004), 9.